While the vast majority of service centers are unaware of the reasons for teachers’ resignations, teachers regret that they did not receive an “acknowledgment of receipt” until after they were notified of their resignation.
That’s what happened to Edith Lamoureux, a high school teacher from Gatineau who resigned last year after 17 years of experience, Le Journal reported Tuesday.
The automated message in her email inbox was the only response she received from her employer after she left. “Nobody is fighting to keep us,” she laments.
The practice appears to be widespread, as several other teachers who dropped out of classes also recently told the Journal that they received the same automated message in response.
“They don’t even try to hold us back,” complains a teacher who resigned this spring after experiencing repeated violence in a special education class.
An expert is not surprising
However, Simon Viviers, professor at the Faculty of Education at Laval University, is not surprised. “This is a good example of what we have already documented: teachers often complain about bureaucracy,” he says.
The Journal reported Tuesday that the number of resigning public school teachers in Quebec has doubled in the last four years. This is according to partial data obtained through a request for access to information from 41 of the 72 school service centers. Over the past five years, more than 6,200 teachers have made this decision.
However, not all teachers who resigned necessarily left the teaching profession, according to the school network. Some may have resigned, for example to work in another service center or in the private sector due to relocation, but most organizations do not know the reasons for their departure.
Only two service centers, Les Découvreurs in Quebec and Marguerite-Bourgeoys in Montreal, told us that their teachers had resigned, primarily to work at another school service center “due to the availability of contracts,” “closer to home,” or out family or personal reasons.
Difficult working conditions
For Simon Viviers, however, it is clear that the increase in the number of dismissals is directly linked to “increasingly difficult working conditions”.
“That corresponds to the response we have in practice,” says the man who has been interested in mental health issues among teachers for years.
The latter collaborated on a recent National Institute of Public Health study indicating that 62% of teachers suffer from “high” levels of psychological distress, a percentage that has almost doubled in 12 years.
The University of Laval professor also urges service centers to document the reasons for these withdrawals. “It’s important to collect data,” he said.
Mr. Viviers also reiterates that the impending adoption of the Legault government’s school reform, contained in Bill 23, will only worsen the situation by limiting the professional autonomy of teachers while increasing the pressure on their shoulders.
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